It started off with a really nice lunch that Steph and I had at Napa Valley Grille. We killed a bottle of wine in the mid-day, ate some salads and walked around the mall idly awaiting our flight.
We got into Albuquerque around 10 and as soon as we stepped off the shuttle to our hotel it started raining. It was raining so hard and neither of us packed rain gear that we couldn't go out to eat even though we were starving. So we ordered a pizza and watched Kathy Griffin's 'Allegedly' stand-up routine, which Steph had never heard. Good stuff. The pizza guy showed up and I asked him how he was doing and he said "Ducky." My mind immediately thought of Ducky from "Pretty in Pink." So I thought he thought that I asked him who he was.
"No, how are you?" I repeated myself.
"Ducky," he replied.
"I'm sorry. Did you say, 'Ducky'?"
"Yes. Ducky."
"I thought that's what you said. Here's your twenty bucks, Ducky."
The next morning Nancy picked us up with Nana. We went over to Nancy's where Mom and Dad and Tieg were waiting. We kibitzed for a while then went to Mimi's Cafe for breakfast. Dad acted like Mimi's was a rarity, but I didn't have the heart to tell him there are Mimi's everywhere now. We all got what we wanted and then departed. Nana doesn't do much walking anymore so we ended up at Border's (dad got another $200 to spend from his Skidmore class) and I came home with a full suitcase. I'm looking forward to re-reading "Salvation on Sand Mountain" and discovering some new memoirs from new voices. Went to Trader Joe's the stock up on wine for the weekend in the hills.
Then we went to Nancy's again for a little more catching up. Nana has a Nees Family genealogy that Nancy was saving for me to come home with. I have it now and it's much longer than I remember it being. Lots of photos and stories from a side of the family that we really don't keep in touch with at all since Nana doesn't keep in touch with them either. I can't wait to dive into that.
The last thing we did was drop off Nana at her home. Depressing to be there, actually. Nana is in much better condition than the other people who live there. She uses a walker almost all the time now because she broke her hip twice. But her roommate was napping and she was so pale and so motionless, we thought she was dead. The rest of the people living there didn't seem to know what time it was much less what day it was and what they were doing there. Sad. I know Nana probably feels depressed being there too. But what can we do? It's the system.
So we rolled on down to Lincoln, stopping outside San Antonio, NM, for a world famous green chile cheeseburger from the Owl Cafe and Bar. I didn't remember the burgers being so flat, but damn they were still good and greasy. When you're in New Mexico, you have to try and put green chiles in everything. It makes most dishes that much better. Even cheeseburgers. Yummers.
The next morning, Sunday, the Coopers were on their way in from Roswell when I made the first of the bloody mary's. We peppered our own vodka with some training I got from Edward. So we tried out a new recipe with home-made peppered vodka. Damn they were good. We saved just enough vodka for Roger to try one when Siri and he arrived. We hung out all day telling lies and then Becky and the girls showed up for dinner. We all ate and hung out and discovered that Alexa had just come back from a two-week photo safari in Zimbabwe and Zambia. We watched her slide show and saw her videos and in spite of her account of not enjoying her company, you could easily tell that that she had had the time of her life. When the Borowski's left we all sat down to end the night with a little Mexican Train, which is a game of dominoes. Steph won the first game and I didn't do any better than second place.
On Monday, Tiger won his fifth tournament in a row and I took Cassie's photos for her senior yearbook. The rain was still pretty dominant, so hopefully she doesn't look too soggy for years to come.
Later that day, after the Cooper's went back up to Roswell, mom, dad, Steph and I had dinner at the Tinnie where the reception for our wedding was. We had some steaks and shared more good times. After spending the whole weekend with all of the people who really do know you best, I couldn't be more confident that Dandelife has a winning recipe. I just love catching up and lifting my spirits through the past.
Comments:
moby (October 2, 2006. 08:28pm)
Ducky, must get that response a lot I would imagine.
kga245 (October 9, 2006. 07:59pm)
You'd think. He didn't seem to know what I was talking about. He acted like I was definitely the least cool guy in the room. Kids!